Summary
In February 1986, the legs of an unidentified individual were found in the West River in New Haven, Connecticut. The legs were discovered twenty yards downstream from the Chapel Street Bridge. No other remains were found. It was determined that the remains were that of a White male between the ages of twenty and fifty years. Hair on the man’s legs was described as being light brown in color. It was estimated that two days had elapsed between the man’s death and the discovery of his remains.
With limited information available, the man’s identity remained a mystery and the case went cold despite investigators’ attempts to identify him. The man became known as New Haven County John Doe (1986). In 2015, details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as #UP13994.
In 2023, as part of an ongoing collaboration aimed at solving the backlog of cold cases in Connecticut, the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner partnered with Othram in The Woodlands, Texas. Othram will use Forensic-Grade Genomic Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile to generate new investigative leads for the case.
Anyone with information that could aid in this investigation is encouraged to contact the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner by calling 860-679-3980 and referencing agency case M-86-559 or NamUs ID #UP13994.
A DNASolves crowdfund has been created to raise funds for the casework costs. Anyone can contribute here. We are grateful for your support.
Michael Vogen
Director of Case Management
Michael works with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada on “unsolvable“ cases that can benefit from advanced DNA testing methods. He helps these agencies use cutting edge DNA sequencing and new forensic techniques to develop investigative leads for their cases.